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You must unlearn what you have learned. This article contains obsolete data. It reflects a Dark Brotherhood policy, position, or object that has been removed or replaced. It is preserved here for historical purposes only and should not be used/referenced.
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The Idea
The Assembly of Consuls was first created around 2000 (16 ABY). Keiran Idanian of Clan Alvaak, Trev of Clan Naga Sadow, Kelric of Clan Arcona, Brad of Clan Scholae Palatinae, Corran Force for Clan Satal Keto, Kodiak for Clan Tarentum, and Jac Cotelin for Clan Taldryan came together to create the Assembly of Consuls. The mandate of the group had a set purpose in mind:
- Provide an open forum for ideas from the Consuls of each Clan
- Give opportunity to resolve problems without the need to involve higher authorities
- Allow for unity among the Clans and provide opportunity for friendly competition
- Assist in the training of new leaders
- Give an advantage to those seeking to draw from the talent pool of new leaders
- Speak in one voice about the Brotherhood
From its very first version the AoC has always been pooled together so that the Clan leadership have a central port of call, completely open and devoid of the political wrangling between the Clans. It has always meant to be where the direct member-facing hierarchy of the Brotherhood could speak to one-another about their duties, discuss best practice, and the burdens that ride on the shoulders of those few who lead the Clans.
There is a lot of burden placed upon the shoulders of the Clan hierarchy to make sure things in their Clan go smoothly. You are forced to learn things the hard way, as experienced advice isn't always forthcoming. More often than not the previous Clan leadership has been displaced, sometimes violently, and beyond any Holocrons you happen to have picked up along the way you are left with a Clan to run, with a lot of people waiting for you to fail. A Consul still feels compelled to contribute to the DJB as a whole, leading by example, but you feel strangled by the position in a Clan that sucks away your time in administration, and ensuring those directly under you are completing their own jobs efficiently.
The Practice
To begin with, using the AoC, the Consuls directed a good deal of change within the DB. The most significant example that can be pointed out is that the AoC was responsible for the creation of the Cluster of Fire. The AoC was a good addition to the DB for a time; however, it took a lot of initiative from the Emissary to keep the group afloat, and the fact that an Emissary was required was seen by different parties as a problem. The Dark Jedi Brotherhood had a structure that had just changed. Would the Emissary then become another layer of the structure between the general membership and the Dark Council? How much power would they have, and politically how much of what the AoC debated, and the decisions that were made would come from the GM and DC, and how much would the Emissary sway the conversations for their own Clan or personal political needs?
The discussions took a good deal of time away from Clan affairs. At the height of the AoC, Yacko had to step it up in Tal because the group simply took a lot of time to manage. When there was not an active Emissary, the AoC was inactive. Although at different stages of the AoC some Consuls had a great mistrust of the Emissary's role, ALL the Consul's had a greater mistrust for their counterparts. Therefore Consuls did not always submit on their own, or take the initiative to add new ideas to the mix via this forum.
This mistrust was strengthened all the more due to the fact that the AoC was seen to have been created as an anti-Dark Council group. With rumblings from all levels of the DJB that the DC were not visible enough there was animosity between the GM / DC and the Assembly of Consuls. The current GM at the time Chi did not like the idea very much that another internal group had formed, amalgamating the power of the Consuls, discussing DJB-wide matters, and therefore worked hard to control the influence that that AoC could possibly obtain.
The Problems
The problems that have blighted the Assembly of Consuls, both internally and externally, can never be completely swept aside.
The Consuls will always have a great mistrust of each other. Unless the Emissary position is held by the reigning Grand Master then the chances will be that the Consuls will not put all the energy then need into it, hoping instead that one of their 'peers' will be placed in the position and then fail miserably.
On the few times that the Assembly has fully convened it does not normally take very long for the Consuls to start scoring political points at the expense of other Consuls, or begin arguing about past misdeeds between the Clans' leadership, which of course detracts from the issues at hand.
Those who have obtained power and fought their way into their position are always very unlikely to pass on the secrets of how they have worked their way through the hierarchy, therefore assisting in the training of new leaders of the other Clans has never been high on the list of priorities by the individuals, although this was supposed to be one of the main purposes of the group.
The AoC does not function well as a counterbalance to the Dark Council, and the AoC must work in conjunction with the DC. There will always be a fear, though that should the AoC work hard to become more efficient then it could be a true contender to the power the DC control.